“The future is no more uncertain than the present.”
Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist
Quotes about presentation page 9
“Being present means living without control and always having your needs met.”
Byron Katie (1942) American spiritual writer
Source: On Work And Money
“The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind.”
Kiran Desai book The Inheritance of Loss
Source: The Inheritance of Loss
“Breathing in, there is only the present moment.
Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
“A Wasn’t just isn't. He just isn't present. But you… You ARE YOU! And, now isn't that pleasant!”
Dr. Seuss book Happy Birthday to You!
Source: Happy Birthday to You!
Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) English novelist (1815-1882)
As quoted in Forbes (April 1948), p. 42
Variant: The habit of reading is the only one I know in which there is no alloy. It lasts when all other pleasures fade. It will be there to support you when all other resources are gone. . . . It will make your hours pleasant to you as long as you live.
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
1950s, Loving Your Enemies (November 1957)
Context: There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Ovid, the Latin poet, "I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do." There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Plato that the human personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in different directions. There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Goethe, "There is enough stuff in me to make both a gentleman and a rogue." There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Apostle Paul, "I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do." So somehow the "isness" of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts us. And this simply means this: That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls "the image of God," you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.
“Whether you call on him or don't call on him, God will be present with you.”
Frederick Buechner (1926) Poet, novelist, short story writer, theologian
Source: Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation
Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) Italian philosopher, mathematician and astronomer
As quoted in Life and Teachings of Giordano Bruno : Philosopher, Martyr, Mystic 1548 - 1600 (1913) by Coulson Turnbull
Josef Pieper (1904–1997) German philosopher
Source: Leisure, the Basis of Culture (1948), The Philosophical Act, pp. 64–65
Source: Leisure: The Basis Of Culture
“I have felt lately, more and more, that my present way of living is bad in every respect.”
Thomas Hardy book Far from the Madding Crowd
Source: Far from the Madding Crowd
Gregory Maguire book Son of a Witch
Source: Son of a Witch
“The problem about the future is that it keeps turning into the present.”
Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist
Gregory Maguire book Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
Source: Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
“Life's too slippery for books, Clarice; anger appears as lust, lupus presents as hives.”
Thomas Harris The Silence of the Lambs
Source: The Silence of the Lambs
Andrew Solomon book The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
Source: The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
Nicholas Sparks book The Choice
Travis Parker, Chapter 22, p. 258-259
Source: 2000s, The Choice (2007)
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish physician and author
Source: Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I
“Whenever a new situation presented itself, you had to remain cool and distant”
Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist
Source: Veronika Decides to Die
Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist
Source: Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son
“He who spends time regretting the past loses the present and risks the future.”
Francisco de Quevedo (1584–1645) Spanish writer
Guy Debord (1931–1994) French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker and founding member of the Situationist International (SI)
Source: Society of the Spectacle (1967), Ch. 1, sct. 1.
Nathaniel Hawthorne book The Scarlet Letter
Source: The Scarlet Letter (1850), Chapter II: The Market-Place
“The future was with Fate. The present was our own.
~ The Poison Belt”
Arthur Conan Doyle book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Source: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
“Life is now in session. Are you present?”
John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor
Source: The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life
Elizabeth Peters The Ape Who Guards the Balance
Source: The Ape Who Guards the Balance
“If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist
From a review of the revised edition of “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White published in Esquire, November 1959.
“The past doesn't matter. People cling to it because it allows them to ignore the present.”
James Frey book The Final Testament of the Holy Bible
Source: The Final Testament of the Holy Bible
“The past is the father of the present.”
Agatha Christie book Hallowe'en Party
Source: Hallowe'en Party
“Time goes from present to past.”
Shunryu Suzuki (1904–1971) Japanese Buddhist missionary
Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
“You can present the material, but you can't make me care.”
Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist
Source: Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection
“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. (21)”
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Jennifer Crusie (1949) American writer
Source: Agnes and the Hitman
William Gibson (1948) American-Canadian speculative fiction novelist and founder of the cyberpunk subgenre
Terry Tempest Williams (1955) American writer
Source: Pieces of White Shell
“An author in his book must be like God in the universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere.”
Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) French writer (1821–1880)
9 December 1852
Correspondence, Letters to Madame Louise Colet
“To Retain those who are present, be loyal to those who are absent.”
Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker
“I'm very good at the past. It's the present I can't understand.”
Nick Hornby book High Fidelity
Source: High Fidelity
“The past is always with us, for it feeds the present.”
Ruskin Bond (1934) British Indian writer
Source: A Town Called Dehra
Gregory Maguire book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Source: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
“Know that life can only be found in the present moment.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Variant: Life is available only in the present moment.
Source: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
Source: The Life and Wisdom of Confucius
“A book is a wonderful present. Though it may grow worn, it will never grow old.”
Jane Yolen (1939) American speculative fiction and children's writer
Source: Girl in a Cage
“Memory is a snare, pure and simple; it alters, it subtly rearranges the past to fit the present.”
Mario Vargas Llosa (1936) Peruvian writer, politician, journalist, and essayist
“There is no past. Past is present when you carry it with you.”
Flora Rheta Schreiber (1918–1988) American journalist
Source: Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities
“Appeals to the past are among the commonest of strategies in interpretations of the present.”
Edward Said (1935–2003) Professor of English and literature
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Quoted in A Lifetime of Peace : Essential Writings by and About Thich Nhat Hanh (2003) edited by Jennifer Schwamm Willis, p. 141
“If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.”
Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) Dutch philosopher
